A waterproof connector

Abstract: The waterproof connector comprises a retainer (103) removably mounted to the rear portion of the housing of the connector. The retainer includes wire insertion grooves (114) cut in a direction perpendicular to the draw-out direction of wires (106) to be drawn out through their respective rubber plugs (107) form their respective terminal storage chambers (105) and into which the wires can be inserted, and retainer side hold portions projected from the edge portion of their respective wire inserting groove (114), for holding their respective wire (106) in part. The waterproof connector further includes housing side hold portions (109) each holding the part of the outer peripheral edge of its respective wire, and its respective retainer side hold portion holds the remainder thereof.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of Invention The present invention relates to a waterproof connector. 2. Description of Prior Art In an ordinary connector, a plurality of terminal storage chambers are formed in the interior of a connector housing and terminals are inserted from the rear portion thereof. In the connector of this type, especially, in the connector housing thereof to be used in a place which requires a waterproof condition, waterproofing means is provided in the rear portion of each of the terminals to be inserted into their respective terminal storage chambers. As an example of such technique, there can be taken a technique which is disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Sho.61-26272. In this technique, cylindrical rubber plugs are respectively fitted with electric wires to be connected to the terminals and the rubber plugs are made to come into contact with the whole peripheries of the inner walls of the terminal storage chambers to thereby secure a sealed condition between the rubber plugs and the terminal storage chambers. More specifically, a metal terminal is fixed to the leading end portion of a wire and a rubber plug having a plurality of pleats on the outer periphery thereof is disposed in the rear of the metal terminal and is staked and fixed by the terminal fitting. And, as the terminal fitting is inserted into a terminal storage chamber formed in a connector housing, the pleats of the rubber plug are made to come into close contact with the peripheral wall of the terminal storage chamber, thereby sealing a clearance between the wire and the peripheral wall of the terminal storage chamber. Further, as a countermeasure to prevent the terminals from being removed from their respective terminal storage chambers, a retainer is mounted to the rear portion of the connector housing. The retainer includes a securing claw, that is, the retainer can be mounted to and removed from the connector housing by means of engagement and disengagement of the securing claw with respect to the housing. Also, in order that the retainer can be inserted in a direction perpendicular to the respective electric wires while avoiding interference with the wires, the retainer includes a plurality of slits which are respectively opened downwardly and are arranged in parallel to one another. Further, a pair of flexible projections are projectingly formed in the opening edges of each of the slits in such a manner that they are opposed to each other with the slit between them. This structure makes it possible not only to press against the rear end of the rubber plug but also to clamp the electric wire from the right and left sides of the wire substantially by one half of the whole periphery of the wire. According to WO 88/07775 an electrical connector assembly of terminals terminated to conductors of cables assures the retention of the terminals in the passageways of the housing by an insert member inserted into a transverse cavity at the cable-receiving face along one side of the cables of a row after the terminated terminals are fully inserted. The insert member has forwardly facing stop surfaces which engage rearwardly facing stop surfaces of annuli of the terminals at rearward ends thereof spaced away from the cable insulation. The terminals are primarily retained in the passageways by conventional means so that the insert is a secondary retention means. The insert is secured such as by a pair of latch arms at ends thereof which latch to the housing when the insert's stop surfaces engage those of the terminals of the row. The terminal annuli can engage corresponding passageway wall portions in any angular direction to limit lateral movement in all directions and thus stabilize the terminal in axial alignment within the passageway in cooperation with the primary retention means forwardly thereof. The stabilization is present even in the absence of the insert member. Furthermore, US-A-5,098,315 describes seal retainers for electrical connectors according to the preamble of claim 1. The seal retainers described there comprise a retainer plate having one or more slots therein to accommodate a wire or wires leading into a connector. In the retaining position, the retainer plate extends across the connector cavities with the wires passing through the retainer plate slots. A seal and/or secondary lock disposed around the wire in the connector cavities are engaged by the interface of the retainer plate to prevent outward axial movement thereof from the cavities. The retainer plate includes a peripheral flange which fits into a peripheral recess of the connector body and thus lies flush with the connector body surfaces. At least one dovetail tab extends axially from each side of said retainer, said tabs extending from said retainer plate flange. Dovetail recesses in the container body are aligned to receive said dovetail retainer tabs. The present invention aims at eliminating the drawbacks found in the above-mentioned conventional waterproof connector. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is the object of the invention to provide a waterproof connector which can secure a waterproof condition even when an electric wire is drawn out. In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a waterproof connector as defined in claim 1. Since an expansion and contraction portion may be provided in the rubber plug, even if there exists any error in a distance between a position where the metal terminal is secured to the lance and the position of the end terminal plug, by expanding or contracting the expansion and contraction portion as demands arise, the distance can be adjusted freely and thus the error can be absorbed. According to the invention, after the terminals are inserted into the terminal storage chambers of the housing, the retainer is mounted to the housing in such a manner that the wires drawn out from the chambers are respectively inserted in a comb-teeth manner into the retainer through the slits of the retainer. Then, a given area of the outer peripheral edge of each wire is held by the retainer side hold portions, while the remaining areas thereof are held by the housing side hold portions. Therefore, most of the whole periphery of the wire can be held by means of cooperation of the retainer side and housing side hold portions. Furthermore, the invention provides the following effects: That is, since most of the whole periphery of each wire can be held divisional by the two hold portions respectively provided on the retainer and housing sides, even if the wire is drawn out in any angular direction, the wire can be held positively to thereby be able to eliminate the possibility that there can be produced a clearance between the sealing rubber plug and the inner walls of the terminal storage chamber to worsen the sealed condition between them. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a waterproof connector according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse section view of hold portions employed in the waterproof connector; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section view of the hold portions employed in the waterproof connector; Fig. 4 is a section view of the two hold portions and a wire, showing how the two hold portions hold the wire; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the waterproof connector, showing the assembled state of the waterproof connector; and, Fig. 6 is a front view of a retainer employed in the invention, when viewed from the inside thereof. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Now, description will be given below in detail of an embodiment of a waterproof connector according to the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 shows an exploded state of the present waterproof connector and, as shown in Fig. 1, the waterproof connector comprises a connector housing 101 and a retainer 103 which is used to prevent removal of terminals 102 respectively to be inserted into the connector housing 101. In the front portion of the connector housing 101, there is formed an angularly cylindrical hood portion 104 through which the connector housing 101 is fittable with a partner connector housing (not shown). Also, in the interior of the connector housing 101, there is formed a plurality of terminal storage chambers 105 (in Fig. 1, three chambers in line in upper and lower stages) into which terminals 102 can be stored respectively. The terminal 102 is fixed by staking the leading end portion of an electric wire 106, and a sealing rubber plug 107 is fitted with the wire 106 in continuation with the rear portion of the terminal 102. Also, the rubber plug 107 includes a pair of sealing projected portions 108 which are respectively formed integrally in the front and back portion thereof in an annular shape in such a manner that they can be in close contact with the inner walls of the terminal storage chamber 105. The thus structured terminal 102 is inserted from the rear portion (In Fig. 1, from this side) of the terminal storage 105. In the rear opening edge of the terminal storage chamber 105, there is disposed a housing side holding portion 109 which is used to hold the portion of the wire 106 to be drawn out. Each housing side hold portion 109 is formed of a pair of hold pieces 109a and 109b which are respectively projected upwardly and downwardly in a facing manner from the lower and upper opening edges of the rear portion of each terminal storage chamber 105. However, in the facing upper and lower housing side hold portions 109, the upper and lower intermediate hold surfaces 109b respectively forming in common the two hold portions are formed integrally with each other. Also, in each housing side hold portion 109, the inner peripheral surfaces of the two hold pieces 109a and 109b are so formed as to provide the hold surface 109c which has an arc shape that extends along the outer peripheral surface of the wire 106. In the illustrated embodiment, they are so formed as to be able to hold an angular range of the order of 90° of the outer peripheral surface of the wire 106 symmetrically from above and below. Also, as shown in Fig. 3, the hold surface 109a includes a stepped portion 116 between the terminal storage chamber 105 and itself, so that the hold surface 109c can approach the wire 106 as much as possible. Next, referring to the retainer 103, the retainer 103 is formed in such a manner that it can be fitted between upper and lower projected edges 110a and 110b respectively projected from the upper and lower edges of the rear portion of the connector housing 101. However, the lower projected edge 110b of the two projected edges 110a and 110b is so formed as to be flexible and includes a securing projected edge 119 which is engageable with a claw edge 121 formed in the lower edge of each of division pieces 120 (to be discussed later) formed in the retainer 103. The retainer 103 includes a pair of flexible securing arms 111 which extend from the two side edges of the retainer 103 and also respectively include window portions 112 which are respectively engageable with projected portions 113 provided on the side surfaces of the connector housing 101. Further, the retainer 103 includes, as shown in Fig. 1, three wire insertion grooves 114 respectively opened downwardly in a comb-teeth manner, and further includes the above-mentioned two division pieces 120 between the wire insertion grooves 14. Two wires 106 can be inserted respectively into the upper and lower portions of each wire insertion groove 114. Also, each of the wire insertion grooves 114 is so formed as to be in communication with a set of upper and lower terminal storage chambers 105, when the retainer 103 is mounted to the connector housing 101. Further, each of the wire insertion grooves 114 includes retainer hold portions 115, two in each of the upper and lower surfaces thereof respectively facing the connector housing 101. Each of the retainer hold portions 115 comprises a pair of right and left hold pieces 115a each of which includes in the inner peripheral surface thereof a hold surface 115b extending along the outer peripheral surface of the wire 106. That is, the retainer hold portions 115 are so disposed as to be at right angles to the housing side hold portions 109 and, as shown in Fig. 4, in cooperation with the housing side hold portions 109, the retainer hold portions 115 can surround substantially the whole periphery of the wire 106. Also, as shown in Fig. 4, when compared with the housing side hold portions 109, the retainer hold portion 115 are disposed closer to the wire 106 and the hold surfaces thereof are in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the wire 106. Further, when the retainer 103 is mounted to the connector housing 101, as shown in Fig. 2, the leading end side of the two hold pieces 115a of each retainer hold portion 115 are inserted into the terminal storage chamber 105, while the leading end faces of the hold pieces 115a are formed as pressure surfaces 115c which are respectively pressed against the rear end surface of the rubber plug 107. Next, description will be given below in detail of the operation and effects of the present embodiment structured in the above-mentioned manner. When assembling the waterproof connector according to the present embodiment, at first, the terminals 102 are inserted into their respective terminal storage chambers 105 from behind and are engaged with elastic securing pieces (not shown) provided in the terminal storage chambers 105, so that the terminals 102 are secured provisionally. At this time, the rubber plugs 107 are in close contact with the inner walls of their respective terminal storage chambers 105 and the wires 106 are drawn out backwardly from their respective terminal storage chambers 105. Next, sets of upper and lower wires 106 are inserted into the respective wire insertion grooves 114 in the rear portion of the connector housing 101. The retainer 103 is slid toward the connector housing 101 side along the wires 106 and the window portions 112 of the two securing arms 111 are engaged with their corresponding projected portions 113, then the retainer 103 can be fixed to the connector housing 101. Therefore, as described before, the leading end sides of the hold pieces 115a of the retainer hold portions 115 are inserted into the terminal storage chambers 105 and the pressure surfaces 115c are pressed against the rear end faces of the rubber plugs 107, thereby preventing the terminals 102 from being removed (a secondary securing condition). Also, when the retainer 103 is mounted, as shown in Fig. 4, the two hold pieces of the housing side hold portion 109 respectively hold the upper and lower areas each in the order of 90° of the wire 106 and the two hold pieces 115a of the retainer hold portion 115 respectively hold the right and left areas each in the order of 90° of the wire 106. That is, the housing side and retainer side hold portions 109 and 115 cooperate in holding substantially the whole periphery of the wire 106 and, therefore, even if the wire 106 is pulled in any direction, the holding condition of the wire 106 can be secured. This prevents the tension of the wire 106 from having any influence on the rubber plug 107, so that a sealed condition between the rubber plug 107 and the terminal storage chamber 105 can be maintained. Although in the present embodiment there are disposed the hold portions 109 and 115 respectively on the connector housing 101 side and the retainer 103 side, from the view point that the outer peripheral surface of the wire 106 is to be surrounded along the whole thereof, the whole of the outer peripheral surface of the wire 106 can also be surrounded by projecting a cylindrical hold portion only on the housing 101 side. However, when compared with this, the separate provision of the two hold portions in the two members as in the present embodiment makes it easier to insert the terminals 102 into the terminal storage chambers as well as to simplify metal molds used to form the members. Although a preferred structure is illustrated in the above embodiment, the invention is not limited to the illustrated structure but various changes are possible without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, in the present embodiment, the wires 106 are inserted into the respective wire insertion grooves 114 of the retainer 103 from the upper portions thereof. However, the retainer can also be structured such that the wires are inserted from the side portions thereof.

Claims: A waterproof connector comprising: a plurality of terminals (102) respectively for receiving a wire (106); a plurality of rubber plugs (107) provided on the rear portion of their respective terminal (102), for sealing their respective wire (106); a housing (101) including a plurality of terminal storage chambers (105) respectively for storing their respective terminal (102), and a retainer (103) removably mounted to the rear portion of said housing (101), said retainer including wire insertion grooves (114) cut in a direction perpendicular to the draw-out direction of wires (106) to be drawn out through their respective rubber plugs (107) from their respective terminal storage chambers (105) and into which the wires (106) can be inserted, characterized in that said housing (101) further includes housing side hold portions (109) projected in the rear opening edges of their respective terminal storage chamber, for holding their respective wire (106) in part; and in that said retainer (103) further includes retainer side hold portions (115) projected form the edge portion of their respective wire insertion groove (114), for holding their respective wire (106) in part, wherein each of said housing side hold portion (109) holds the part of the outer peripheral edge of its respective wire (106), and its respective retainer side hold portion (115) holds the remainder thereof. A waterproof connector according to claim 1, wherein each of said rubber plugs (107) includes a fixing portion for sealingly receiving and fixing a wire (106) therein, a slidable portion slidable against said fixing portion in the axial direction of said rubber plug (107), and an expansion/contraction portion (6) allowing for said slidable portion to slide in the axial direction of said rubber plug (107), wherein said terminals (102) stackingly fix the core wire of the wire (106) and said fixing portion respectively, said terminal (102) having an engaging hole, and wherein a connector housing (101) further includes lances engagable with their respective engaging hole of said terminals (102).

Inventors: MIYAZAKI SHO, WAKATA SHIGEKAZU, MIYAZAKI, SHO, WAKATA, SHIGEKAZU
Applicants: SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, LTD.
Application year: 1994
Main classification: H01R13
IPC codes: H01R13